A Facelift on Bleecker Street

Apr 16, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in New York 5 Comments Tags: bleecker street, parks, spring, west village

For the past year and a half, the seating area attached to the Bleecker Street playground—across from the famous Magnolia Bakery—has undergone a complete renovation.

The previous design included a few tabletops with built-in chessboards and shabby green benches, but it was still a nice spot to sit and watch the Village go by. Since we walk by the park almost daily, the renovation seemed to go on forever; we mourned the loss of what was once a great place to sit and read or chat.

Just this past week the fence surrounding the park’s perimeter finally came down and residents of the West Village, along with a few cupcake eaters, were able to fully appreciate the new park along in the sunny, warm weather we’ve had.

Now, the park’s redesign adds more open space with a planting area in the middle, lots of springs blooms and an overall “updated” look with light-colored pavestones and gravel. Chaim Gross’s bronze sculpture, The Family, still remains at the edge of the park.

The park sits on the west end of Bleecker Street across from a row of luxury shops that take up the block. This location often makes for great people watching, and while the park may be full of frosting-filled tourists toting Jimmy Choo shopping bags at times, we’re mostly just happy that it’s open again at all.

- Ryan

Lunch at Del Posto

Apr 5, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Food, Living, New York 3 Comments Tags: birthdays, del posto, holidays, meatpacking district

After our great staycation at The Standard, Laura took me for one more birthday treat—lunch at Del Posto.

Del Posto’s $29 lunch menu has long been regarded as one of the best food deals in the city, but alas the price was finally raised to $39 on April 1—the day before my birthday, of course. But, even at $39, Del Posto’s lunch is still a great deal. You’re treated to all of the perks of an extravagant dinner while the sun is still shining outside.

We began with cocktails while I window shopped through the extensive wine list, drooling over many of the rare bottles offered.

Our server then brought out our amuse bouches—three delicious small bites, which included arancini, a chicken soup and a foie gras tramezzini.

For our first courses, I had the warm cotechino with lentil vinaigrette & dried fruit mostarda while Laura had the vitello tonnato with olive crostone, caper berries, parsley stem & lime cells.

Both were excellent and set the tone of what was to come. After our stunning meal at Recette the night before, we were feeling very, very fortunate by this point.

For our main courses, we both skipped over the pasta options, however delicious they sounded, and went straight toward the meat.

I chose a swordfish involtini with smoky cabbage and arborio salad with fondo of Barolo. Laura had the Sardinian lamb with Roman artichokes, bruised mint and saffron potatoes.

Along with my dessert—a butterscotch semifreddo with sour cherries, melon agrumata and crumbled sbrisolona—our waiter presented us with two delicious bombolini, stuffed with lemon custard, served with a birthday candle sticking out of a housemade strawberry jelly. Laura had a carrot cake, complete with dainty roasted baby carrots in a honey glaze. Just when we thought it was over, out came the box of mignardises.

With lunch finished and my birthday weekend at its close, we walked the few blocks back downtown toward our apartment, great memories in tow. We were sad for the weekend to end, but there’s always next year.

- Ryan

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Apr 3, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Living, New York 6 Comments Tags: birthdays, holidays, meatpacking district, spring, the high line, the standard hotel, west village

It’s hard to believe that exactly one year ago yesterday, we made our first post on this blog. Now, one year later, we’re celebrating not only that milestone, but also Ryan’s birthday.

Last year, we posted up in the Ace Hotel for the night and enjoyed a birthday celebration that we thought for sure would be tough to top. Dare I say that we did?

Continuing with the tradition of a staycation, we decided to stay at The Standard this year. The Standard is perched over the High Line, with amazing views of the city and the Hudson River (and it’s within walking distance from our apartment!).

Upon checking into our 16th floor room, we were greeted with expansive views of lower Manhattan and the Hudson River. It was truly breathtaking. In fact, we’ve decided we much prefer the downtown view to the slightly obstructed uptown one.

After lounging around our room (and gawking at the ultra-sleek and voyeuristic bathroom), we enjoyed a delicious slice of cheesecake and a few cocktails at the bar downstairs before it was time for dinner.

For dinner, we dodged the light rain and trekked a few blocks south of the hotel to Recette, a place I had been dying to try and thought Ryan would enjoy. It exceeded both of our expectations by far and has now likely earned a regular rotation. What a charming, inventive and fun restaurant—we both couldn’t recommend it more highly.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel to enjoy a bottle of wine that Ryan selected for his special day.

Exhausted from the excitement, we fell into bed and awoke the next morning to a crisp, clear morning and that breathtaking view. After grabbing a latte from the new Blue Bottle Coffee location on 15th Street, we relaxed in our room before heading to one last birthday surprise… A very special lunch.

To be continued…

- Laura

Spring Forward

Mar 19, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Living, New York, Style 7 Comments Tags: photos, spring, west village

Now that the temperature has finally risen in the city and the sun has come back out, our neighborhood is virtually bursting with people out and about.

From tourists exploring the food shops, locals browsing the outdoor markets and older folks chatting on benches in the park as the floral beauty begins to bloom around them, the West Village seems to finally be alive again after the winter. We enjoyed the afternoon ourselves and took a stroll around to see what everyone was up to in the gorgeous weather.

Here’s to bike lanes and outdoor cafés!

- Ryan and Laura

Before My Birth

Mar 12, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in New York, Style No Comments Tags: art, battery park city, new museum, sculpture

At this year’s New Museum Triennial opening, we were immediately drawn to Adrián Villar Rojas’ massive clay sculpture A person loved me.

The Argentinian artist, alongside a crew of six men and women also from Argentina, constructed the New Museum’s piece over the course of the last month, often putting in 12 hour days to build the futuristic sculpture that looks like something that fell from outer space.

Just a couple of miles downtown, Rojas has another installation that seems as though it’s from an entirely different world than his clay tower on the Bowery—Before My Birth, a site-specific installation at the World Financial Center Plaza.

While A person loved me has no relation to modern human culture—it’s from lightyears in the future, almost—Before My Birth is a series of clay and wood structures that evoke some of Le Corbusier’s Brutalist principals albeit very obviously constructed by human hands and emotion, as they’re mottled with cracks and roughly-hewn edges. (The sculptures even contain human objects such as a tire, apples, and a spoon embedded within them.)

If A person loved me is the end of human culture, Before My Birth was intended to be the beginning.

As with A person loved me, this installation will be destroyed after its time in New York, another testament to Rojas’ vision of unending change and evolution. As Rojas told The New York Times, “I really love the idea of not having a body of work.”

- Laura and Ryan

The New Museum Triennial: the Ungovernables runs through April 22. Before My Birth is on display through March 29.